Why the Jesus “Way” Irritates American Evangelicals

Yesterday I posted a picture on Facebook  that said:

Soon later I got a private message from an American Evangelical Christian who responded:

“This is the reason we can’t just let every single immigrant that is headed to the border into the country. They must be cleared through our immigration process.”

The message was accompanied by a meme with an inflammatory quote attributed to newly elected Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar.  The quote was so outrageous it took only about 30 seconds at factcheck.org to confirm it’s fabrication (Note: please don’t obtain your news from memes shared on social media) but it did get me thinking about why the original quote I posted highlighting Christ’s teaching would cause a defensive reaction…in a Christian?

Essentially, why should the Christ Way be a thorn in the side of people who claim to follow him?

The American Way vs The Way of Christ

Let me first concede, I believe the person who sent this to me is right in one respect.  She is an American and as an American is supporting the fact that there is a border and foreigners need to be vetted before entering the country.

But this is where the conflict begins because as a citizen of God’s Kingdom we are bound by a higher demand on our allegiance.  A calling to Christ’s Way is to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27)

The American Way (like any other nation’s “Way” for that matter) that tends to eliminate their enemies and bomb those that hate them will ultimately find itself on a collision course with the Way of Christ.

Let me try to explain

Recently China has begun an increased persecution of Christians in their country and this is fuelled by the fact that they understand Christianity’s ultimate aim a bit better than Americans do.  China sees Christianity essentially as a foreign government; an alternative Way of ordering the world with Christ at it’s head.  Obviously China has its own way of ordering the country and Christianity is understandably seen as an ongoing potential threat to that order.  Christians proclaim Jesus as King and China, like Rome of the first century, demands there can be no king but Caesar.

However America, like Rome after Constantine, instead co-opted Christianity as a de facto state religion.  Now instead of the Way of Christ being an alternative way of ordering the world acting as a prophetic voice to the country, it instead becomes the chaplaincy to the American Way.  Christianity is here to provide a moral underpinning to the country while blessing our wars, ways, and policies.  This explains why most American evangelicals are a hybrid of American patriotism and Christian rhetoric; fighting to retain the Ten Commandments in public spaces but never asking why memorials to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount were never erected in the first place.

Because the Sermon on the Mount, which effectively describes what a citizen of God’s Kingdom looks like bears little resemblance with what a citizen of America or any other country in the world looks like.

Evangelicals, as I did for many years, solve this problem by regulating Jesus from being King of Kings NOW to a personal Lord whom they can have a relationship with.  His Kingdom is largely outsourced to the afterlife which frees us up to put America First now and the Christ’s commands filtered first through the lens of American self interest.

But Steve, how then are Christians supposed to operate within their homeland?

Resident Aliens

The Apostle Peter gives us advice on how to navigate this tension. In Chapter 2 of his first epistle we are told to honor the local rulers and country we reside in but to see ourselves (depending on the translation) as sojorners, pilgrims, foreigners, or resident aliens.  Most American Christians I have met would never see themselves as “resident aliens” in America.  Because of that they find themselves in the paradox of having to navigate two competing allegiances; one that often can put America First at odds with loving our enemies,

But Steve, what if those people are trying to harm us?  Surely we have the right to protect and defend ourselves?

This is why the Way Jesus taught is hard!

I mean its really hard.

It’s so hard Jesus even says few really find it …but the road to destruction is wide and well travelled.  Sometimes, as it did with Christ, walking the Christ Way can lead to our own harm and possible destruction. We may:

• Give shelter to the stranger who means us harm
• Feed the stranger who is determined to kill us
• Pray for the enemy who slanders us
• Forgive the person who would wrong us over and over again

This is real martyrdom!

To “deny Christ” is to live in a way that protects our selfish interests.  Real “faith in Christ” is not simply believing Jesus is the Son of God or saying a “sinner’s prayer”; it mean having the faith that by employing the Way that Jesus taught, even if it means our own harm, is how a Kingdom founded on love, mercy, and forgiveness advances.

It’s time for American Evangelicals to wake up and decide which Way they will really follow

Peace,

Steve